Australian firms seen taking part in PPP program

The government expects Australian firms to participate in the bidding for infrastructure projects under the Public-Private Partnership program.

According to Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, several Australian firms expressed interest in investing in infrastructure projects in the Philippines during the road show conducted earlier this month by members of the government’s economic team.

“The result of the road show was very positive. There was a lot of interest among Australian firms, especially in investing in infrastructure,” Purisima told reporters Thursday on the sidelines of the Senate hearing on the proposed hike in cigarette taxes.

The road show in Australia was held last September 12-14.

Besides Purisima, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Assistant Governor Ma. Cyd Tuaño-Amador and PPP Center Executive Director Cosette Canilao participated in the road show.

The finance chief did not identify the interested companies, but said officials of some of the Australian firms the Philippine economic team had talked to were now looking into the details of the proposed infrastructure projects.

Under the PPP program, the government invites private firms to invest in public infrastructure projects.

In an earlier press conference, PPP Center Executive Director Cosette Canilao said several Chinese, Japanese and European firms had bought pre-qualification documents to bid for two PPP projects—the LRT Line 1 Cavite Extension project and the Naia Expressway Phase II project.

The government eyes to bid out at least two infrastructure projects before the end of this year.

The lack of infrastructure is often cited by studies and surveys on the business community as one of the major obstacles preventing the entry of more foreign direct investments.

Infrastructure spending in the Philippines is estimated at below 3 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, below the average of 5 percent for Southeast Asia.